As the national leader in hands-on experiential learning, Keuka College students don’t stop acquiring skills and knowledge after classes end each Friday.

Case in point: Twenty-four Keuka occupational therapy majors volunteered at the Autism Speaks’ Sixth Annual Rochester Walk Now for Autism event last Saturday (Sept. 27).

“We volunteered at the walk because autism is the largest growing population that occupational therapists treat,” said Kelly Welsh, assistant professor of occupational therapy, who took the students to the event. “This experience may lead to some fieldwork or employment opportunities for the Keuka students.”

A complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, autism can be accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. Walk Now for Autism seeks funds for research and awareness about a disease that affects one in every 150 children.

“I had freshman to master’s levels students attend the autism walk,” said Welsh. “Most of the students are interested in working with pediatrics. The Keuka senior students worked in a sensory calming area to help children who have problems regulating and modulating sensory input. My other students will assist with a bounce house and handprint banner.”

According to Rebecca Salyards, a junior from La Verne, Calif., the sensory area consisted of such tactile play materials as play dough, foam, buckets of beans and shapes, among others.

She chose to be involved in the autism walk to “personally support the families of those with autism.

“I helped run the sensory area and handprint banner, and a climbing wall/slide bounce house,” said Salyards. “This was a lot of fun, and interactive. I would go in and we would slide down together, or I would bring the [the children] to the exit.”

Salyards credits previous Field Period experiences with making her more comfortable with autistic children.

“Because of the diverse experiences that I have had on Field Periods, I felt more competent and confident to volunteer in this setting,” she said. “Any experience out of the classroom, interacting with real people in a real setting, gives me an opportunity for a deep kind of learning.”

Emily DeSanctis, who helped with the handprint banner, also decided to volunteer in the walk because of a Field Period experience.

“I completed a Field Period at a summer camp where the majority of the campers have autism,” said DeSanctis, a junior from Bloomfield. “They were a great bunch of kids, and after becoming close to some of them, I want to help out with the autism cause.”

Volunteering at this year’s walk “will always” stay with Shannon Hinkle, a junior from Northville.

“When I see people with this disorder in the future, it will be easier for me to communicate with them because I have worked with these children,” said Hinkle, who set up the sensory area, hung banners, and assisted at the bounce house. “It will help me be active and outgoing in future situations because it was fun, and I enjoyed participating in the walk.”

Samantha Smith helped with the sensory set up and hung posters. She knows first hand about “the struggles and the joys of having a child with autism.

“I have three cousins with autism,” said Smith, a master’s student from North Chili. “[By participating in the walk], I gained more understanding of what a family may go through. This was a great opportunity to spread information and awareness on autism. The walk is also a good networking place for the families.”

Sophomore Courtney St. Pierre, who helped with the bounce house, agrees.

“I thought the autism walk was beneficial not only for the kids, but for the parents also,” said the Oxford, Maine resident. “By having volunteers there, it gave the parents a short time to relax. They were talking with parents they had not met, and I think it helped them understand that they are not alone.”

Kathleen Campbell assisted with the bounce house and handprint banner.

The junior from Troy, Pa., credits her Keuka classes and Field Periods for “helping me compare what the differences between a child with autism and a child without autism. My Field Periods have helped me notice small things, such as why [the children] sit in the corner.”

And while St. Pierre doesn’t know much about autism, she believes “seeing autistic children will help with my future classes when we [learn about autism].

“I think it will also help with future Field Periods because being exposed to someone with autism will make it easier to identify it on my own in future clients with whom I may see and work,” said St. Pierre.

Salyards agrees.

“This is what my profession will be, not set up in a classroom talking about it, or working with other students, but actually getting ‘down and dirty,’” she said. “ Working with the unpredictable child or the busy parent not only adds reality to my learning, but gives me motivation and encouragement to keep up with my studies and assignments. This will allow me to accomplish my ultimate goal at college: to be a professional occupational therapist.”

Other students participating in the walk included Bethany Harrington, a senior from Fairport; Catherine Armani-Munn, a senior from Plattsburgh; Sara Malikowski, a master’s student from Fredonia; Heather Wolfe, a master’s student  from Norfolk; Victoria Dinkins, a senior from Vernon, N.J.; Emmalee Smith, a senior from Dryden; Katy Bischoff, a senior from Williamson; Courtney North, a freshman from Canandaigua; Alicia Sieling, a junior from Lyons; Holly Kaszewski, a junior from Bath; Jessica Devericks, a junior from Jamestown; Maggie Piaseczny, a freshman from Sheldon, Vt.; Jessica Cunningham, a senior from Corning; Megan LaPointe, a senior from Dryden; Jillian Grenier, a junior from Apalachin; Megan Arthur, a sophomore from Lowville; Michelle Leone, a junior from Rochester; and Nola Trost, a master’s student from Canandaigua.

-- Gretchen Parsells